Luhith, " as a Hebrew word, signifies ' made of boards or posts' (Gesenius, Thesaurus, p. 748) ; but why assume that a Moabitish spot should have a Hebrew name ? By the Syriac interpreters it is rendered ' paved with flag- stones' (Eichhorn, All//. Eihliothek, i, 845, 872). In the Targums {Pseudojon. and Jerus. on Numb, xxi, 16, and Jonathan on Isa. xv, 1) Lechaiath is given as the equiv- alent of Ar-Moab. This may contain an allusion to Luchith, or it maj- point to the use of a term meaning 'jaw' for certain eminences, not only in the case of the Lehi of Samson, but also elsewhere. See Jlichaelis, Suppl. No. 1307 ; but, on the other hand, Buxtorf, Lex. Tulm. col. 1134" (Smith).
Iiuini (or Lovino), Bernardino, a celebrated paint- er of the Lombard school, born about 1460 at Luini, near the Lago Maggiore, was the ablest pupil of Leonardo da Vinci and of Stefano Scotto. He imitated the style and execution of his master Leonardo da Vinci so closely as to deceive experienced judges, and j'et his general man- ner has a delicacy and grace Eufficicntly original and distinct from that of Leonardo. Many of Luini's best and greatest works, in oil and in fresco, are still in a good state of preservation, namely, the Magdalen and St. John with the Lamb, in the Ambrosian Library at Milan ; the Enthroned Madonna, painted in 1521, the Drunkenness ofXuah. and other ^vorks in the gallery of the Brera at Milan ; the frescoes of the Monastero Mag- giore, or San Blaurizio, in the same city, from which, however, the ultramarine and gold have been scraped off; several at Saronno, among them his chef-d'oeuvre, Christ disputing with, the Doctors ; and other extensive and equally good works in the Franciscan convent Degli Angeli at Lugano, on the lake of that name. The date of his death is not exactly known, but he was alive in 1530.
He had a brother, Ambrogio, who imitated his style, and several sons who also were painters. See English Cyclop, s. V. ; Chambers, Cyclop, s. v.
Luitprand, or Liudpranp, king of Lombardy (A.D. 712-744), was bom towards the close of the 7th
centurj'. In 702 his father, Ansprand, a powerful Lom- bard lord, and an adherent of king Luitbort, having been defeated by the usurper Aribert II, retired to the Bava- rian court. He was joined there by Luitprand, but the other members of his family, having fallen into the hands of Aribert, were put to death. In 712 Luitprand and his fatlier succeeded in overthrowing Aribert, and Ansprand dying shortly after, Luitprand succeeded to the throne. His first care was to restore peace to his kingdom, suf- fering from internal dissensions. He enacted a series of laws in the years 712,717, 720, 721, 723, 724, which, with the Edict of Kotharis, form the principal basis of the Lombard law as it remained in force in Northern Italy until the 14th, and in the kingdom of Naples until the 16th century. I'cace and prosperity once restored to his people, Luitprand eagerly sought for an opportunity for the aggrandizement of his dominions. He had his eye especially on Rome and the exarchate, and when the quarrel broke out between the pope and the emperor of Constantinople concerning image worship, Luitpn.nd suddenly announced himself and his Lombards devout worshippers of images, and, under pretence of taking the pope's part, he seized the exarcliate of Ravenna and sev- eral cities. But pope Gregorj' II, alarmed at the grow- ing power of Lombardy, and the prospect that hereafter the papacy might be dependent on the rule of a people looked upon as vile barbarians [see Lombards], pre- ferred to seek aid in other quarters not only for him- self, but also for the exarcliate, whose daj'S seemed about to be numbered. He therefore enjoined upon the duke of Venetia to aid the exarch in retaking the prov- inces seized by Luitprand. Gregory at the same time persuaded the inhabitants of the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento to throw off the Lombard yoke. Luitprand, however, matched the pope in cunning, for he no sooner learned the position of the pontiff than he turned to the side of the exarch, and, after having aided him in sub- duing his uisurgent provinces, marched himself against Rome, with the intention of taking his revenge on the pope. The latter, however, succeeded in pacifying Luit- prand, and the Lombard returned into his kingdom. In 73G, being dangerously ill, he surrendered for a while his power to his nephew Hildebrand, whom the Loniltards had elected his successor, but when he recovered his health he found himself obliged to divide his authority with Hildebrand. In 739 Luitprand overcame a league formed against him by pope Gregory III, and the dukes of Spoleto and Benevento and the exarch of Ravenna, and, to punish the incumbent of the apostolic see, he ap- peared before the gates of Rome. The pope, in his dis- tress, called upon Charles Martel for assistance. Greg- on,-'s appeal is truly touching: "His tears are falling night and day for the destitute state of the Church. The Lombard king and his son are ravaging the last remains of the property of the Church, which no longer suffices for the daily service; they have invaded the territory of Rome, and seized all his farms. His only hope is in the timely succor of the Frankish king." Valuable pres- ents accompanied this appeal — among them the mystic keys of the sepulchre of St. Peter, and filings of his chains, which no Christian could resist — also a proffer of the title of "Patrician and Consul of Rome" — yea, the deliverer of the Eternal City was to become even the patron of the Romish Church. Of course Martel an- swered favorably to such an invitation. Unfortunately, however, for the Romish cause, he died shortly after. But, even before Martel could have taken the field against Luitprand. the latter had been induced to with- draw his troops from Rome. A state of hostility, how- ever, continued between the Lombards and the Romans until the death of Gregory III. The next pontiff (Zach- arj') finally succeeded, by a personal visit to Luitprand, in securing a treaty with the Lombards by which the latter restored to the Church all the possessions taken from it during the war. Luitprand thereafter seems to have been favorably inclined to^vards Zachary and the Church. He died in Januai;}-, 744. See Paid Diacre^